by A and E Kirk
Butch shook his head. “Don’t know how to use it, do you?”
Kiara glared at him, then said, “Excuse me Miss Daf-elbow, could you please—”
“Elbow? What are you talking about? Oh.” The girl chuckled. “It’s Daphne, not elbow. And no ‘Miss’ in front. Just Daphne. You are so funny.”
“So weird,” Eddie said, then quickly whispered, “and not of this world.”
“Yes, of course. Miss, I mean, just Daf-knee, would you please call my…superior.” Kiara rattled off the number Leontes had given her for emergencies.
A few moments later, Daphne said, “Your lieutenant, or captain or whoever, isn’t answering. I can text him. What do you want me to say?”
This could be tricky. “Say that it is Kiara, that I am perfectly fine, that I am out of the mansion—yes, please say mansion—and that I am with friends, and I am fine. Very fine.”
“Okay, sent.” Daphne smiled up at Kiara. “I also said that we were on the trail of an assassin and that you needed your LAPD backup pronto.”
“Oh,” Kiara said. “Please take that part back, because it probably wasn’t a good—”
The phone rang. Daphne answered, but before she could get in a word the caller started shouting.
Kiara closed her eyes. “—idea.”
CHAPTER 9
At Leontes’ vehement insistence, they had pulled over and provided their location. While Kiara paced along the sidewalk and spoke on the phone, Daphne and Eddie leaned against the car.
“No, they are very nice, Leontes. They helped me, and I didn’t even have to glamour them. I just showed them my badge.”
“Badge?” Leontes said. “Oh, dear God. Detective Cage.”
Kiara grinned. “At your service, Lieutenant Leontes. See, you don’t have to worry.”
“Worry!” he bellowed. “I am so far beyond worry, you have no bloody clue! Have you told them anything significant about who or what you are?”
“No, but for humans, they’ve got some really good guesses. Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”
Eddie looked at Daphne with a knowing smile. “She called us humans again.”
“I know.”
“You know who calls people ‘humans’?”
“Non-humans?”
“Non-hu— Exactly right.”
Daphne shrugged. “I’ve read that when cops go deep undercover for a long time, they can go a little crazy.”
“Oh, right, sure, makes sense because, what, she’s been undercover in a witch’s coven?”
Kiara laughed. “No, silly. Vampire, duh. But I am part witch. More of a sorceress, really. Although, I don’t have any magical ability since I came out of the coffin. It’s a—”
“Another long story.” Daphne nodded. “We understand. Can’t wait to hear it.”
Eddie did a double take. “Okay, excuse me, what? She just used vampire, witch, sorceress, and coffin in the same sentence. Are you not hearing this?”
Daphne smirked. “She’s just messing with you because she knows you are such a nerd.”
“Kiara, stop talking!” Leontes sounded ready to burst through the phone.
“It’s really okay,” Kiara said. “I think nerd means someone who knows about supernatural stuff and is okay with it. So we’re good.”
“See.” Daphne gave Eddie a smug smile and punched his shoulder. “Totally messing with you.”
Kiara punched his shoulder, too. “Totally.”
Eddie bounced off the car and fell flat on his butt, grabbing at his chest. “Ow! That hurt! Did you see that? She is fricking way too strong for normal.”
“I’m so sorry.” Kiara offered a hand, but Eddie scooted away.
Daphne rolled her eyes and helped him up. “Come on, wuss. I’m going to miss curfew if we don’t hurry. Kiara, do you need us for anything else?”
“No!” Leontes shouted. “Get them out of there. I will arrive within minutes. Find somewhere to hide and talk to no one.”
“But—”
“No one!”
“Fine. I have to give Daf-ankle back her phone.”
The girl laughed. “Daph-ankle. You’re a riot.”
“How did you know?” Kiara said. “I did cause a riot once. Just for fun, because it gets so boring. I told the ghouls at the mansion that the zombies were talking behind their backs, and then the ghosts got involved and, holy moly, it was a blood bath. Not for the ghosts, because they don’t bleed, of course, but—”
“Kiara!” Leontes yelled.
“Yes, sorry.” She smiled tightly. “Goodbye, Leontes.”
“No, do not hang up,” he said quickly. “I do not want to lose you. I mean, the connection with you. Tell the girl I will pay her for the phone.”
“Keep it,” Daphne said. “I’m due for an upgrade anyway.”
Kiara paused. “You’re giving me a gift? But I have nothing for you. Oh, I know. I could curse you. It’s my own family recipe.”
“Whoa.” Eddie grabbed Daphne’s arm and pulled her back. “Thanks, but no thanks. We’re good. Really. Fine and dandy. Sweet of you to offer, but a serious no on the cursing.”
Daphne shrugged off Eddie’s grip and patted Kiara’s shoulder. “Just be careful. And promise you’ll call and let me know how it all goes down. You can tell us one of those long stories when we hang out again.” She scribbled on a piece of paper she took from her purse. “Here’s my address.”
“Hang out?” Kiara asked, taking the paper, her eyes suddenly misty. “Yes, thank you. I would very much like that. I have much gratitude for your assistance, Sir Edward.”
Daphne said, “Not sir, and it’s just—”
“No.” Eddie pushed his glasses up his nose. “Sir Edward works.”
Daphne snorted, then pulled Kiara into a hug. Kiara stiffened for a moment. She could not remember the last time anyone hugged her. Unless you counted the headlocks Bane put her in when they sparred. But she did not think so. Those did not feel good. Not like this, which sent a warmth spreading through her whole body. Kiara smiled and wrapped her arms around the girl.
Daphne grunted. “Oh, wow. Eddie’s right. You are strong.”
Kiara let her go and moved toward Eddie with her arms open. He took a quick step back and waved from a wary distance, then both he and Daphne got in the car. As they drove off, Daphne yelled out the window, “Shouldn’t you have a gun?”
Kiara waved. “I should totally have a gun. Leontes—”
“No guns.”
She started to roll her eyes, but a strong scent suddenly carried over the breeze, causing her to catch breath. Fresh blood. A lot of it.
“Oh no,” Kiara whispered. “He’s killing again.”
CHAPTER 10
The drizzle continued. Dark clouds dragged across the moon as Kiara raced through the neighborhood and came to a stop in front of a large house set far back from the street behind an electronic security gate. There were no lights on inside or out. The luxury exterior of the home contradicted the perfume of fear, blood, and death wafting from within.
A rising wind fluttered her dress in wet slaps against her legs as Kiara gave Leontes the new address.
“For God’s sake,” he demanded through the phone. “I am telling you— no, ordering you, for the final time, to stop and wait for me, and do not hang up. You know the rules. You cannot be out, let alone unsupervised.”
“But the assassin is inside.”
“If there even is an assassin! The house could be full of innocent humans.”
Kiara flinched. He thought she was hallucinating. The sting of that realization flushed her cheeks. But Butch had said the killer was real. Where was Butch? A quick glance around revealed he had abandoned her.
Through the phone, Kiara heard the screech of tires as Leontes squealed around a corner on his race to get to her. She said, “You’re such a worry wart. I’ve been out for hours and nothing’s gone wrong. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Gunshots shattered the silen
ce of the night. Bright flashes of light lit the interior of the house.
“What was that?”
“Good,” Kiara said with relief. “You heard it, too.”
In one fluid motion, she leapt over the gate and ran for the porch. The splintered front door hung drunkenly on one hinge.
“Automatic gunfire. Inside.” Kiara fought to stay calm. She needed to focus. Wet from the rain, she brushed back the dark tendrils tangling across her eyes and took deep breaths, the smell of gunpowder strong.
“No. Kiara, whatever happens, do not go inside the—”
Kiara eased off the clunky, muddied boots and hopped barefoot over the door onto the cold tile. “I’m in the house.”
“Goddammit!” His words disintegrated into a groan. “Kiara? Wait for me outside!”
Kiara poked her head into the living room. Through the rain-spattered windows, the hazy glow from streetlights filtered in to chase at shadows crawling the walls. Three lawn chairs and a card table sat empty in a room which was otherwise devoid of furniture. She smelled the ravaged flesh and the coppery scent of spilled blood before she saw the bodies.
Seven well-muscled men, faces frozen in a final grimace, lay crumpled on the floor, limbs at odd angles, blood pooling beneath them. Automatic guns lay scattered a few feet away, the metal bent as if it had been heated and warped.
Or twisted by a tremendous amount of brute force.
The dead bodies did not faze her, but the black flower petals on the ground and the symbol on the wall stole her breath. Two scythes, crisscrossed at the handles, were painted in blood, the crimson lines dripping in a macabre fashion.
“Leontes, it’s Oleander. His death crest is drawn in blood above two corpses.” Kiara tiptoed to the wall, careful to keep from stepping in the spreading pools of red. She tilted her head and wrinkled her nose. “There’s a business card. Stuck on the wall with blood.”
Leontes cursed. “Do not look at the card. Leave it alone.”
Kiara peeled the card off the wall with a sticky, wet crackle. Oleander’s death crest took center stage on the front of the glossy white card. On the back, spiked vines with vibrant red blossoms entwined around a clear glass jar filled with thick scarlet liquid. Thanks to an infusion of magic, the bottle appeared real. Like a 3-D hologram. As Kiara moved the card, the potion inside the container swirled and glowed.
She released a weary sigh.
Leontes’ flat voice crackled the silence. “Let me guess. You looked at the card.”
“It’s the Midnight Poison,” Kiara said. “Which means all this killing has to do with me, doesn’t it? Why didn’t you say something?”
“We do not know that for certain.”
“Yeah, right. Just because I don’t remember doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“Of course not,” Leontes said with growing tension. “I simply did not want to—”
“Send me off the deep end?”
“No. I did not want to involve you until I had more facts.”
“And more dead bodies.”
She shut the dead men’s eyes, then wiped her bloodied fingers on the skirt of her rain-soaked nightgown. That was better. Sort of. She was not fond of dead things. Especially ones that seemed to stare at her with accusing eyes.
Above her, the floorboards groaned.
She spun, dress fanning out, hair flinging water droplets to mix with the blood that spattered the wall. “He’s upstairs!”
In a voice that shook as he fought for control, Leontes said, “Kiara, trust me when I say you are out of your depth here. Get out now. Please.”
He was probably right. And it made her angry. She turned to leave when movement caught her attention. She twirled on the balls of her feet, ready for the worst.
CHAPTER 11
But it was not a deadly assassin wielding a scythe ready to lop off her head.
It was a puppy.
The white-blond bundle of fur padded out of an upstairs doorway, then sat down and barked.
“What was that noise? Are you outside?” Leontes asked. “Are there guard dogs?”
“No, it’s upstairs.”
“Well, then do not go upstairs!”
With a running start, she leapt, landing in a crouch balancing on the second story banister. “I’m upstairs.”
“It is as if I am not even speaking to you,” Leontes muttered, his breathing labored.
She heard more screeching tires. In the distance this time. Not just through the phone. He would arrive soon.
The puppy saw Kiara, whimpered and trotted toward her, leaving a trail of tiny red paw prints in its wake. In the room behind the puppy, another body lay broken and unmoving. Up on the landing, chairs and tables lay scattered, knocked over from a violent encounter, blue and yellow velvet pillows strewn about, and vases broken into shattered bits.
As the puppy’s whimpers escalated into a howl, its body contorted. Fur receded in a slow ripple. Scrawny limbs cracked and bubbled into chubby arms and legs. The puppy’s face collapsed inward, and a swollen, red-cheeked face of a human baby wailed forth. For a few moments longer, sharp needle-like teeth remained, webs of gooey saliva stringing between them. One dog leg kicked wildly from the hip, looking very much like some mad scientist had sewn it on. Then with a slurping sound, all animal features disappeared and there was just a little human baby, naked, tears streaming down its swollen rosy cheeks.
“Are you crying?!” Leontes screeched.
Kiara’s face softened. “No, that’s the werewolf baby. She’s so cute!”
“Werewolf baby?”
“Shush, it’s okay little one.” Kiara slipped off the banister and opened her arms. “Come here. I’ve got you.”
Leontes shouted a savage command. “Do not touch the baby!”
Kiara reeled back.
“Do not look at the baby! Do not smell the baby! Do not taste the baby! Do not—”
“Do anything to the baby.” Kiara popped to her feet. “Got it. Jeez! But why would I taste the baby? Do you think I’d eat a baby? That’s more than a little insulting. And what if the assassin comes back?”
“Protect the baby.”
“How do I protect the baby without touching the baby?”
“I missed you earlier,” came a raspy voice.
Kiara whirled. The phone flew out of her hand. It banged against the railing and clattered over the edge.
Downstairs stood a man cloaked in black, his face hidden in the shadows of his hood. He caught her phone in his open palm. His fingers closed around it. In his fist, the technology crushed to dust and Leontes’ frantic voice faded to silence.
“Oleander,” Kiara breathed.
“Kiara Blackwood.” He inclined his head. “Pity I missed you earlier in your room. Since you have saved me the effort of tracking you down again, I offer you my thanks.”
“No ‘thanks’ necessary, scumbag.”
“Scumbag?” He chuckled. “Tell me, what do you remember of Oleander?”
“That you’re a murderer. Scumbag,” she said. “And I’m going to stop you.”
“I see,” he said. “Unfortunately, I have no time for conversation. It’s been a killer of a night, so to speak, and I am tired.” Inside the hood, red eyes with slitted pupils flashed in the darkness. “But there is one last piece of business I must attend to. Please, step aside.”
Behind her, the baby whimpered. She wanted to grab her and run, but Leontes had said not to touch the baby.
Leontes.
He was another problem. She had never seen him fight, and if he went up against Oleander, it would probably be the last time she ever did. Best to stall while she figured this out.
“I’m taking the child,” Oleander said.
Kiara tapped her fist to her chin. “Hmmm. Let me think. That would be a ‘no’ to your babysitting offer.” She shifted to block the child from his view and nodded toward the dead bodies. “Your references? Unimpressive. Instead, Butch, tell him what he’s won.”
&
nbsp; Butch was not anywhere in sight, but if Oleander thought she had someone in the wings, it might give him pause.
After several moments of silence, the hooded figure said, “I didn’t hear anything. Did you?”
Kiara chewed her lip. “Butch is a bit shy, but what he meant to say is since her troops are surrounding this place as we speak, the grand prize is a one-way trip to see the Queen of the Undead, where you will enjoy a torturous debriefing on your latest escapades. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” And how she wished it were true.
Oleander’s arm whipped back and shot forward.
Metal glinted.
Kiara twisted sideways just in time to miss the dagger thrown at her heart.
As the weapon clattered harmlessly to the floor, the hooded figure shrugged a smile that melted in a liquid motion. His body morphed.
Limbs stretched, fingers curled and sharpened, as the torso contorted. He fell on four legs, now a creature that resembled an oversized jungle cat. Black claws sprung out. Scaled skin sprouted and shimmered dark purples and blues. Its body, long and lean with banded muscle, looked emaciated.
A serrated, forked tongue flicked out of a mouth that ran the extent of its long snout, a chaotic jumble of needle-like teeth, thin lips peeled back in a wet snarl. Black horns tangled off his head like a twisted briar. His long tail twitched an ominous warning, a metronome counting down the last moments of her life. A guttural hiss snaked through salivating teeth.
Muscles coiled, the lizard-cat assassin leapt.
Kiara ran for the child, chubby arms reaching toward her, the little face shining with innocent trust, but she stopped short, hands fluttered in useless frustration. “Stupid Leontes.”
A blow from behind knocked her to her stomach and sent her sliding on the hardwood floor. A heavy weight on her back pinned her down. The attacker rode her like a skateboard, hot breath gusting her neck. She saw the wall coming fast, ready to crack her head open.
As she slid past the fallen dagger, she grabbed it, reached back, and buried the blade into flesh. A pained howl ripped out and the weight lifted. Kiara rolled to her feet, momentum slamming her back into the wall. Her head snapped against the door jam.
